Few places on earth rival the Dalmatian Coast for sea kayaking. With more than 1,200 islands and reefs from Croatia to Montenegro, it's perfect for a paddling idyll. Join Olaf Malver during this presentation on our Croatia kayaking adventure and learn about our unique itinerary, including our stay on a deluxe private sailing catamaran from which we launch our kayaks at a new destination each day, navigating intimate coves and grottoes and exploring ashore on foot.

Europe was once teeming with wildlife, from the snowcapped tops of mountains to the warm beaches of the Mediterranean. The arrival of humans, agricultural production, exploitation of habitats and the introduction of invasive species have caused major losses in biodiversity. Thankfully, conservation organizations like WWF are working to protect the species and habitats of the continent. Here are the top five places in Europe where nature will astound you.

The opportunities to engage on a cultural level with local communities may seem less prominent as wildlife is often the focal point of the WWF trips. But it's often the local communities and guides who can spot the rare bird hidden in the thick of the forest canopy. It's the community that is bound tight to the history of their landscape; they know the stories that illustrate how nature has shaped their culture or perhaps how culture has shaped nature. It is almost impossible to understand and appreciate wildlife without also understanding the people and cultures that live under the same expansive sky.

Our photo slideshow highlights eight WWF trips that engage with the keepers of this intimate knowledge.

Beloved by birders and nature enthusiasts everywhere, puffins are one of the most widely recognized birds of the North. With a colorful bill that seems too perfectly painted to be real, puffins have a photogenic, cartoon-like appeal. Searching for them on an Arctic tour is a must.

9. There are four species of puffins, three of which are slightly distinguishable from one another. The Atlantic and horned puffins look quite similar, with the exception of a blue-grey triangle at the base of the Atlantic puffin’s beak. During the mating season, straw-like feathers protrude from the crown of the tufted puffin’s head. The fourth species, the rhinoceros auklet, doesn’t look like the other three – it’s ashen colored, with a rhino-like protrusion during the breeding season. But it’s still technically a puffin.

8. The puffins’ genus name, Fratercula,comes from the Latin for “little brother.” The name refers to the sea bird’s black and white plumage, which was said to resemble the robes that monks once wore.

7. A puffin weighs about the same as a can of Coke.

6. Puffins lay just one egg per year—and usually with the same mate. Like some penguins, both parents take turns incubating the egg and caring for the chick.

5. Puffins may chatter up a storm at their breeding colonies, but they remain perfectly silent while at sea.

4. There are currently eight isles around the world named Puffin Island—so named because they all are or once were home to large colonies of puffins.

3. A puffin can fly as fast as 55 mph. Compared with other auks, which tend to stay just a few feet above the sea, puffins usually maintain a cruising altitude of around 30 feet.

2. Sixty percent of the world’s puffins breed in Iceland.

1.Puffins are one of the few birds that have the ability to hold several small fish in their bills at a time. Their raspy tongues and spiny palates allow them to firm grasp 10 to 12 fish during one foraging trip. They thus can bring more food back to their young compared with other seabirds that tend to swallow and regurgitate meals for their chicks.